Atomic Show #309 – Matt Huber, Geography of Energy
Matt Huber is a professor of geography at Syracuse University. He writes about energy, economies and the way that energy sources have influenced modern societies and economies.
One of his first books was Lifeblood: Oil, Freedom, and the Forces of Capital (2013) which is very briefly described as follows:
Looking beyond the usual culprits, “Lifeblood” finds a deeper and more complex explanation in everyday practices of oil consumption in American culture. Matthew Huber, associate professor of geography and the environment, uses oil to retell American political history from the triumph of New Deal liberalism to the rise of the New Right, from oil’s celebration as the lifeblood of postwar capitalism to increasing anxieties over oil addiction.
In April 2022, Huber published a significant piece in Jacobin with Fred Stafford that explains how his research has revealed that most of the financial benefits associated with renewable power system development and electricity production “deregulation” have been captured by entities that the Left is supposed to dislike.
When we look at the actually existing decentralized renewable energy industry, we see many things the Left should abhor — deregulated markets, tax shelters for corporations, a rentier development model, and an anti-union industry dependent upon a transient and insecure workforce.
Though the environmental left may not want to accept it, the small-is-beautiful approach of decentralized energy provides ideological cover for a ruthless form of renewable energy capitalism. And even worse, it threatens our fight to halt climate change in its tracks.
In Defense of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Jacobin 40/04/2022
Huber believes that large, capital intensive power plants have been valuable investments as anchors in our electricity grid. Contrary to the characterizations offered by critics and advocates of radical transformation, he believes that the grid is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and that we should add to its capabilities instead of seeking to completely rebuild it with a different generation model.
He notes that emission-free nuclear power plants provide many of the same benefits for workforces, local economies, and grid stability as large coal plants. He is strongly supportive of the coal-nuclear path that is gaining favor with the government and utilities.
Huber and I share strong negative feelings about the work (damage) done by a couple of influential renewable energy gurus – Amory Lovins and Mark Z. Jacobson. We also share deep respect for the work that Meredith Angwin is doing on educating the public and government leaders about the way our electrical grid is trending to a greater state of disfunction and fragility. (We both recommend that people buy her book Shorting the Grid, The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid.)
I hope you enjoy the show, even if Huber’s self-description as a Marxist gives you an immediate sense of discomfort.
Please participate in the conversation. Comments sections on Atomic Insights are often at least as enlightening as the original posts.
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Another good podcast. I hope I’m not the only commenter this time.
I knew i would like this speaker the minute he railed a bit against the neoliberal economic ideas that have dominated our politics for the past 50 years. Then he talked about the New Deal ideas (REA) that brought electricity to my grandmother’s farm many years ago. I was hooked.
Rod and the speaker impress me as pragmatists. The discussion of the necessity of building new transmission to accommodate renewable energy lines and substations was good. Too often this is glossed over by those who dream of a renewable energy future. I really like the idea of replacing coal boilers with reactors. Hopefully, Security requirements and emergency plans required for nuclear plants won’t ruin this idea.
It’s somewhat disturbing that the impression was given by Mr. Huber that renewable energy resources are being built as tax shelters for the wealthy rather than for people’s needs.
Thanks for the podcast.
@Eino
I also hope others join in the conversation.
Are you disturbed because you don’t agree with Dr. Huber’s understanding or are you disturbed because his analysis makes sense and offends your sense of fairness?
I guess the sense of fairness. I don’t like to see electric generation facilities built that may not be needed and I certainly do not want to see the members of Society who need no assistance to get rewarded for building these unneeded public works. However, with the closure of coal plants, the growing sales of electric vehicles, the possible re-industrialization of America, “natural” growth of electrical need and the necessary fight against global warming, maybe it’s not so bad. Sorry for the delay in response.
Speaking of the benefits of repurposing sites of retired coal and oil power plants, Jessica Lovering of the Good Energy Collective has published what I think is an excellent article on the subject, using micro-modular reactors like USNC’s: “A Techno-Economic Evaluation of Microreactors for Off-Grid and Microgrid Application” in a journal “Sustainable Cities and Societies” (URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210670723002317) Check it out!